Youth Against Climate Change: Cool It

Inaugural WCS Mayors’ Forum Creates a Community of Best Practices in Sustainability

1 The inaugural WCS Mayors’ Forum was convened successfully on 30 June 2010. Organised by the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), the WCS Mayors’ Forum represents a key highlight of World Cities Summit 2010. Over 40 Mayors and Governors gathered at the Forum to discuss the most pressing issues faced by cities around the world today. They included representatives from Tangshan, China, Melbourne, Australia, Lagos state, Nigeria, Freiburg, Germany, and Phoenix, USA.

2 The Forum was held at an opportune time, with many global cities finding themselves at a challenging junction, where they have to mitigate economic concerns, population growth, climate change, growing needs of the community, and related issues brought forth by urbanisation. The Forum witnessed engaging discussions on the importance of good governance and leadership in guiding cities through the present, priorities for cities in the new century, and the possibilities for cities to achieve high growth while remaining eco-friendly and liveable. Delegates also discussed how global platforms such as the WCS Mayors’ Forum could provide opportunities for the development of peer-to-peer learning network that explore exchanges, showcase and share knowledge and best practices to create liveable cities in a systematic way.

3 Mr. Ilmar Reepalu, Lord Mayor of Malmo (Sweden), believes the Forum is a good platform for exchanges of best practices. “The WCS Mayor’s Forum is an excellent opportunity for me to exchange experiences and interesting best practise solutions with Mayors from other cities”, he said.

4 Mr. Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al-Hussiyen, Mayor of Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah (Saudi Arabia), believes that such a Forum is useful to the work of Mayors and is beneficial to cities. “Participating in such an international Forum is very important to share with other Mayors challenges that Cities manage and the different approaches in solving these challenges. This will help Cities save the cost and time,” he remarked. “That will be high standard continuing learning and training methods for Mayors. In all Cities, there are some common programs and projects. With such Forums, Mayors can share the best practices.”

5 Mr. Philip Gordon, Mayor of Phoenix City (USA) is delighted that the forum created rare opportunities for cities to network and develop economic opportunities. “I am extremely excited to come to Singapore and participate in the forum. This is a rare chance to exchange ideas with leaders from all over the world and to make business contacts that can further the City of Phoenix’s economic development efforts”, said Mr. Gordon.

6 Moving forward, the Centre for Liveable Cities will partner World Bank (WB), UN-HABITAT and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to develop the WCS Mayors’ Forum into a global network that promotes best practices and peer-to-peer learning among cities based on three key objectives. First, to provide a strategic platform for Mayors to converge and discuss challenges faced by cities, share lessons learnt, and deliberate possible joint solutions. Second, to facilitate the learning of best practices on leadership and governance, and to identify solutions that are practical, scaleable and replicable to build sustainable and liveable cities and foster harmonious and sustainable communities. Third, to identify key areas for further study and collaboration between Cities.

7 Ms. Fumiko Hayashi, Mayor of Yokohama City Government (Japan) has high hopes on the development of the Forum into a global peer-to-peer community of best practices. “Today, we are facing many issues that we must resolve from a global perspective, such as global warming, poverty, and disaster. It is extremely important that we overcome national borders and coordinate regional approaches when dealing with these problems. I have high hopes that this forum will become a model for inter-city collaboration towards the resolutions of these global issues”, she said.

8 Mr Robert Doyle, Lord Mayor of Melbourne, was upbeat about the contribution that the forum could contribute to the growth of cities. “In my experience, city leaders can be more ambitious, courageous and imaginative than some of their national governments. By coming together at world mayors meetings such as the WCS Mayors’ Forum, much can be achieved to help ensure our cities’ future health. This is precisely how city Mayors work together”, said Mr Doyle.

9 “It’s important for city leaders to converge and discuss important issues arising from urbanization”, said Mr. Andrew Tan, Director of the Centre for Liveable Cities, one of the organisers of the World Cities Summit. “It is even more crucial for city leaders to mindshare best practices and identify common interest to collaborate. One of CLC’s work is to facilitate the sharing of best practices and learning among cities in the region and globally through conferences, forums, seminars and workshops. The WCS Mayors’ Forum is one such avenue. We are happy to see that cities are supportive to develop the WCS Mayors’ Forum into a learning network of cities and delighted to partner UN-HABITAT, World Bank and ADB in this new initiative”

10 Given the strong support of the participating cities at WCS Mayors’ Forum and the strategic partnership between CLC, UN-HABITAT, World Bank and ADB, the WCS Mayors’ Forum is well-poised to serve as a leading global platform to network cities and promote communities of best practices.

In addition, Minister for National Development Mr Mah Bow Tan in his opening speech spoke about:

Leadership and governance in turbulent times

Eco-friendly and liveable communities

Promoting Communities of Best Practices among Cities

If you would like the full speech, please do not hesistate to contact me or visit the World Cities Summit 2010 newsroom here!!

Houston, TX – The Houston Texans signed Andre Johnson to a two-year get magnitude on Thursday, a see to that, according to the Houston Chronicle, makes him the highest paid encyclopedic receiver in the NFL.

Johnson, 29, led the NFL in receiving yards the mould two seasons and had five years and $35 million remaining on his existing contract.

The List reported the wing to be worth $38.5 million, including $13 million guaranteed. On average, Johnson will nowadays order $10.5 million per year during the next seven seasons, not including display incentives.

“I on all occasions said I wanted to put on in compensation single cooperate, and to be gifted to depict pro the Houston Texans to my whole life’s work is a tremendous honor,” Johnson said. “I each time said I wanted to be mainly of something celebratory, and I knew that coming to a altered classification, things were wealthy to be a slight disrespectful in the outset, and without delay I feel like things are enchanting that reform for the benefit of us.”

The University of Miami-Florida issue has burnt- his entire seven-year m‚tier in Houston after the Texans selected him with the third all-embracing pick in the 2003 NFL Draft.

Johnson has recorded back-to-back 1,500-yard receiving seasons, including a 101-catch, 1,569-yard operations mould year. He also scored nine touchdowns in 2009 to up his race mount up to to 42 TDs in 102 games.

“After the mould two years, nobody has played to the level that this young chains has as long that I’ve been round, other than the same other cat,” said mr big coach Gary Kubiak. “What he’s been doing has been distinctive, and there’s a assignment more to come. So, that’s going to be exciting.”

He has caught 587 passes for the benefit of 7,948 yards over the course of his career, just two of the numerous organization records he owns.

About this blog

Welcome to ECO Singapore’s COOL IT site, where our youth delegation will be sharing our experiences pre, during and post COP21. We will be representing Singapore at these crucial international negotiations in Paris, France between 30 November and 11 December 2015. Do click on the links above to learn more about climate change and our team.

With the urgency to tackle climate change being ever more imperative, we hope to address pertinent issues that affect Singapore, the region and the world at large as we participate at COP21 and come up with our own initiatives. We hope to use this blog as an avenue to a call to action, inspiring others to become agents of change in their own communities and contribute in their own ways. Do use this blog as a platform to voice your say. Stay tuned for content every day!